Testing the Identity Disruption Model among Adolescents: Pathways Connecting Adverse Childhood Experiences to Body Dissatisfaction

Abstract

The Identity Disruption Model posits that early adversity is associated with lower self-concept clarity, which in turn increases vulnerability to sociocultural appearance factors and body dissatisfaction, but this model has not previously been tested among adolescents. Testing the model during adolescence is critical because this is a key point of development of both identity and body dissatisfaction. This paper presents two studies with adolescents recruited through social media (Study 1: n = 213; 78% female; mean age = 15.7 years, SD = 1.14) and from high schools (Study 2; n = 228; 43% female; mean age = 13.8 years, SD = 1.15). In both studies, self-reported early adversity was associated with lower self-concept clarity; lower self-concept clarity was associated with greater internalization of appearance ideals and more frequent appearance comparisons; and internalization and appearance comparisons were associated with greater body dissatisfaction. This research builds on previous sociocultural models of body dissatisfaction by pointing to processes that occur early in life that could be potential targets of intervention and prevention efforts.

Adverse childhood experiences, low self‐esteem, and salient stimulus response in eating disorders

“…Similarly, while in the combined sample, ACE scores were associated with higher scores for drive for thinness, tendencies to engage in bulimia‐related binge eating, and body dissatisfaction, subgroups did not show those results. Overall, the results support previous studies in larger samples not stratified by ED subgroups (Vartanian et al., 2023; Wendler‐Bödicker et al., 2023). Those studies also provided a possible mechanistic link for how ACEs may drive ED behaviours.…”

“…Two studies indicated that patients with an ED diagnosis have higher average ACEs scores than a nationally representative comparison sample (Forrest et al., 2021; Rienecke et al., 2022), and a higher number of ACEs has been associated with more severe ED psychopathology and higher risk for suicide compared to those without ACEs (Forrest et al., 2021). Importantly, recent studies linked childhood trauma directly to body dissatisfaction, and low self‐esteem (LSE) was suggested as a mediating factor in this pathology (Vartanian et al., 2023; Wendler‐Bödicker et al., 2023).…”

“Spilling the tea” on generation Z social media use and body image

“…For example, a higher frequency of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) correlates with excessive media use, especially among females (Jackson et al., 2021). Similarly, greater ACEs associates with poorer self‐concept, a risk factor for internalization and body dissatisfaction (Jackson et al., 2021; Longobardi et al., 2022; Vartanian et al., 2023). Taken together, excessive media use may emerge in populations at greater risk for corresponding psychopathology and body image concerns.…”

COVID‐19‐related stress exacerbates the effect of child maltreatment on negative affect via increased identity confusion during adolescence

“…The developmental psychopathology perspective suggests that child maltreatment is a psychosocial stressor that disrupts normative identity development across the lifespan (Cicchetti & Valentino, 2006; Potterton et al, 2021). According to the identity disruption model, childhood maltreatment disrupts normal identity development by invalidating the individual's sense of self and deprivations of experiences (e.g., positive interactions with caregivers) that contribute to identity development (Hayward et al, 2020; Vartanian et al, 2022). Adolescents who have experienced childhood maltreatment characterized by threat may not feel safe and secure in exploring their identity, which may result in identity confusion (Berman et al, 2020; Berman, 2016).…”